Cab corner !? dont look too close next time

[streetstar]

My '75 is garaged now all the time, and i was walking around it tonight while engaged in a long cell phone conversation. I have been attempting to gather a few replacement body panels to cover the "problem areas" it has before a re-paint , and i noticed a small perforation in the passenger side lower cab corner (much swearing followed)

This is probably old hat to many of you, but could someone point me to a thread that deals with this patch panel replacement? or briefly outline the things i have to be careful with when doing this?


(the next one i buy will be finished , no matter the cost-- i'm a driver, not a fabricator-- )

[streetstar]

tt

[Restrorob]

I had to replace a corner on my cab, The replacement was larger than what I needed. I just drew as straight a lines as possible where I wanted to cut the old rusted part out then used a air cut-off tool. When doing this you want to cut a little at a time and let it cool to prevent panel warping.

I then held the over-sized new corner in place and marked it a little larger then cut it. Using a 4" angle grinder with a soft flapper type grinding disc I went a little at a time till I got a tight even fit on the cab. Then slowly little at a time jumping around so it wouldn't get too hot and warp stitched it in place. Then smoothed the weld out with a fine sanding disc, All I needed is a little glazing putty to fine smooth it.

This may not be a proper way to do it, But it worked for me and you can't tell it was replaced.

The important part is, Don't over heat the panel.

[James McClure]

Street: I'm in the process of restoring an 84 K20 now. A stripped to the chassis rebuild. I don't know where on the cab corner this perforation is or how large, but if it is as small as you say it is, just fiberglass it from the rear. Sandblast the whole area front and back beforehand. Mine was way way WAY beyond that point. I've driven mine since 88 and it's got 465,000 miles on it!! It's been thru the mud, the blood and the beer. Not to mention many salty northern winters and untold cords of firewood skidded out of the woods. It was a REAL mess. Floors were gone, you could see through the doors and the box sides flapped in the breeze. I'm doing it up right. ALL the pre-made assemblies like doors, fenders, inner fenders, box sides & tailgate are GM parts. Box floor & inner fenders are LMT as is the radiator support and repair panels. I cut out ALL the rusty stuff and welded in replacement panels, then sandblasted the whole thing and painted the bottom with POR and primed it. Then I fiberglassed the entire bottom of the cab inside and out and sprayed it with bed liner material and dropped it back on the chassis. ALL the external panels got a coat of bed liner material on thier insides and the box floor got it on both sides as did the front box panel. Now the painting begins. Black base coat, with "bass boat" metalflake and an overcoat of white perl and several clear coats over that. I have lots of pictures of it as it went through the process, but the only one that matters is the finished product. When it's all done I'll post some. jim

[streetstar]

thx for the feedback guys --- stitchweld it then, just using tacks first, and then grind it down after the fact then ---

sounds do-able

i'm going to check into some night classes at the vo-tech on bodywork and welding possibly